If my enthusiasm herein seems at all tempered, rest assured it's only because I've been lucky enough to own an original Ruffneck Records edition of the Hatebreedsrage CD for many years now, having been able to track down a copy well before they started selling for over $100. Hence, I'm perhaps not overtly flipping out over this reissue as much as I would have otherwise. Still, that a '90s metalcore band as relatively obscure as Cutthroat is receiving the proper reissue treatment at all is cause for celebration, and this is the type of thing that needs to continue happening more and more.
Hailing from Clifton Park, NY—about 20 minutes outside of Troy—if that doesn't technically classify Cutthroat as "Troycore," they must have been close enough, and were certainly aligned in the tone of their violently pummeling, groove-centric metalcore that likely appealed as much to fans of Pantera and Machine Head as those of Stigmata, Dying Breed, etc. Expect a fusion of chugging staccato rhythms, sludgy bends, and seething vocals into a nonstop ass-beating that almost certainly elicited bloodshed in the pit on more than one occasion. All performed with impressive precision that balances beefy guitars and pulsing bass over super crisp drumming. The writing's not overly simplistic either. There are occasional bursts of almost thrash-leaning energy, choppy twists to the rhythmic arrangements, and really cool percussive flare at times, too. "Power Place" = instant classic.
As one should expect from both the genre and Hatebreedsrage title, you'll find bitter lyrics dealing with frustration, anger, depression, and some cold hard reality. But despite all the raw brutality, there are actually some rather clever twists at times. I suppose lines like, "On top of the world, too bad it looks like shit..." are "clever" in more of a Sheer Terror way, but, I mean, come on... that's an obvious compliment!
Remastered from the DAT tape, the LP remains confined and true to the original 10-song Hatebreedsrage album. Limited to 300 copies on "ash smoke green" vinyl—basically a swampy marbled aesthetic—the LPs are held in a matte black dust jacket alongside a two-sided insert with lyrics and reissue credits on one side; a photo of each band member, thanks list, and 1995 credits on the other.
The CD—titled Legacy of Rage 1995 - 1997—tops 70 minutes and also includes tracks from the Capital Punishment and East Coast Assault II compilations, plus the 1995 Swollen Shut demo. Essentially everything recorded by the classic lineup of the group. Cutthroat's contributions to East Coast Assault II—in my mind the greatest hardcore compilation of all-time—are some of the band's finest tracks, too. "Split Your Face" is a 10/10 masterpiece. Period.
To have a great-sounding copy of the Swollen Shut tracks on CD did make this a mandatory purchase for me. Only two cuts from the nine-song demo were re-recorded for the album, so it's largely exclusive material. Slightly on the rawer side in terms of the production, there's a dose of faster-paced riffing and touches of unexpected melody (not without its crushing breakdowns, of course), while the vocals retain a little more of a "standard" hardcore edge. The foundation of their sound was already there, though. It was one hell of a productive timeframe for the band, amidst which their growth by the time of Hatebreedsrage was rather intense.
Also remastered from the DAT tapes, the CD pressing is limited to 500 and utilizes a metal-looking version of the Cutthroat logo over a more detailed reimagining of the Hatebreedsrage cover art. The eight-page booklet includes photos, flyers, a collage of the original layouts from Hatebreedsrage and Swollen Shut (which makes the Hatebreedsrage lyrics harder to read, but not too bad), credits, plus some liner notes from Cutthroat guitarist (and Wax Assault Records founder) RJ Pipino.
Being the lunatic fan of minutiae that I am, I do feel it necessary to point out that the CD being subtitled The Complete Recordings is slightly misleading, as Cutthroat did release a second (arguably even rarer) album, The Time That it's Worth, in 1998 with a different guitar player in the lineup. (That lineup added a second guitarist and eventually morphed into Deadeffect, responsible for one of the most destructive-yet-underappreciated demos I've ever heard, but that's another matter...)
I hate streaming, so it doesn't sting me that this material isn't officially out there on the services, but I do feel that it deserves to be, if for no other reason than Cutthroat remains underrated and there are definitely pockets of the modern generation that would lose their shit over this material. Hell, if nothing else, "Split Your Face" being available for TikTok memery feels... necessary. (I've never used TikTok in my life, but I mean, hey, it worked for Crowbar!)
Having hyped this reissue on social media a couple of times already, I've had a few people complain to me about the prices. In the U.S. you're lookin' at $28 shipped for the CD, $42 shipped for the vinyl, or $62 shipped if you grab one of each. A touch on the steep side, I agree. However, it is costly to see these things to fruition, and especially for projects of this nature where we're talking about a band that's more of an unsung gem, reissues like this are a big deal and need to materialize more often, which is never going to happen if outings of this nature aren't supported—even if the prices land on the expensive side. No one's retiring to a quiet beach somewhere on the back of reissuing brutal upstate NY groovecore, alright? It looks like High Roller Records has the CD and LP available in Europe, so that's likely your best bet outside the U.S.
So, yeah. Cutthroat rules, and I'm psyched as hell to see these reissues out in the world...
Get It
- Wax Assault Records (CD)
- Wax Assault Records (LP)
- High Roller Records (CD)
- High Roller Records (LP)
